IIIrd and last year

Bhaiya (on phone): You got 308 out of 450. Congrats for this success.

Me: Thanx Bhaiya.

Papa, I managed for overall 60 %.

Papa: Well done my boy. Well done. Now you are free of tension.

Results of II^nd year were exciting. Everyone was happy except some of the toppers due to little fall in the marks. We came back and decorated our room and updated each other.

Manish: Yaar, i think this computer course will add value to our CV. I am serious about it.

Me: Hmmm...Ok then we will go there tomorrow and talk about it.

This was planning to join Computer Classes in AU itself. We were rejuvenated after coming from our homes. We planned to visit some of the important places of Allahabad. A camera was arranged with new reel and we set a day for the trip. We started from Anand Bhavan. I could remember that 4 years ago i had visited Allahabad with family. Once you enter to these buildings of national importance, you realise how rigorous it was to fight for independence. We took some snaps there and moved to Bhardwaj Ashram. It is said that Shri Ram, Mata Sita and Laxmanji had stayed in this Ashram while going for Vanvaas. Without losing any time we reached Saraswati Ghat. It is a man mad ghat, well commercialized and quite happening. We enjoyed there a lot. After discussing among each other we finally decided not to have anything over there as it was of considerably higher side in our budget. Every one of us was thinking of his future (job life) because then we won’t wait that much to order and finish a deal at those kinds of spots. Finally we moved to Naini Bridge on river Yamuna. We can always call it a scientific miracle. It is based on the Howrah Bridge model, though it has three pillars. Actually It does not touch its pillars as usually bridges do, rather it trembles when a heavy vehicles runs on it. These bridges provide it support with rubbers in between and that too after a limited gap. At this spot we snapped a lot and appreciated the science-ultimatum.

So apart from limited study we were always ready for unlimited masti. Movie watching trend was being carried forward in a bigger group. University classes were also very interesting now. This year was full of events as usual, but there was a hidden fear which started coming out as the year started passing. This fear was of next platform. Career. Job. Dreams. Destiny. Every single was in dilemma and everyone decided to accept the challenge because that was the only option. Individuals of same career perceptions could be seen together.

Me: Why my toothbrush is already wet when my mouth is still stinking?

Bhaiya: You need to brush your teeth once again.

Me: I haven’t yet. I am going first time only, this morning.

Rajiv: O my God, probably it was me.

Me: Show me your toothbrush.

A lot of hahe hehe hahaha hehehe filled the room no. 66 of Diamond Jubilee Hostel. We were told about possession into single seated rooms. We were not willing to do so, but nobody expressed his thought. Finally Lalit got room no. 22, Rajiv got room no. 25 and i got room no. 30. Bhaiya shifted with Rajiv. This setup again stretched an unwanted line in between us. We automatically failed to follow common routines and this led us think separately for many of the important things including career. This year we had different guys for tuition. In physics we had Mr. Rajiv and in chemistry Mr. Ashish. Previous tutors got better offers. Deepak Dubey sir went DRDO and Rajiv Mishra sir went to IIT-G. I had always thought Civil Services. Subjects had to be decided. I was sure for chemistry in Pre. But one thought was compelling my mind to think. It was of command over the subject. Sine in AU we had general B.Sc. (not honours course), so we were lacking at some points. This inked my mind to think about M.Sc. I appeared in the JAM Test (Join Admission to M.Sc.) but unsuccessful. Alok Singh and other performed well. So I also applied for BHU. But things were going hopeless. Alok was supporting with different kind of options. Suddenly I got the idea of MBA. Actually there is a rationale behind the strike of this idea. I am eldest one of my parents, so I had an automatic pressure to perform well. Since I could not do justice with my M.Sc. option, i inclined towards MBA. I met with so many people. I insisted Sudhanshu to join me in CAT preparation but he did not agree. He went for MCA coaching. Now I alone had to take decision. Mayank, my RaeBareli school friend, told me to go ahead for MBA. He had already appeared and scored fantastic in CAT. He was going to Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Sciences. That time he was a cult for me.

Me: Papa, I want to do MBA.

Papa: (after a long silence) What about your BHU test.

Me: I collected all the information. There are coaching in Lucknow.

Papa: Shall we talk to some experts? Call your maternal uncle, Rakesh and Rinku Bhaiya also.

.........................................................................

Rakesh Mama: (sitting after lunch at his home in Lucknow) which coaching do you like more?

Me: Both are good, but I was told for Career Launcher (Mayank Singh had already told me about CL).

Mama: Now a day youngsters don’t look at career, they go behind glamour.

Papa: We should go to TIME.

IInd year............Resolution for ‘Movieng’

I was weeping in the second class railway compartment when papa came back wearing sunglasses (in order to hide his tears) to encourage me for my goal. I was at home for more than three months and during this phase i almost forgot that i have to go again to AU to complete my Bachelor Degree. This homesickness was the reason why i was weeping (not my marks, 51.8 %, as Pankaj Yadav had told me on phone). Now the journey for Allahabad was questioning me for my existence. I was jerked inside out. This stroke was sounder because my friends who used to roam with me were quite ahead in digits on mark sheets. I had started counting my mistakes of I^st year. My first mistake was avoiding study after classes. Second was extra social activities and third i listed my movie schedule. I saw Bad Boys II as my first movie without telling my parents. This start accelerated my frequency of visits to cinema hall and i started finding that size of TV was very small. This much addiction placed me in the elite group of movie buffs. So i decided to do something to overcome my Project B.Sc. and achieve at least 70 % marks to make an average of 60. This was strategically goaled as it was eligibility for many entrance and competitive examinations.

Anurag: Kas be, what exactly are you doing?

Me: Nothing man, just trying to show others my relevance to study.

Anurag: Great. Come; let’s have a cup of tea at the University road.

I put a shirt and went with Anurag.

.........................................................................................

Till now I had made some good friends. Apart from Lalit, Rajiv, Bhaiya and some hostel batch mates, I had Ashish Pandey (from Allahabad), Pankaj Yadav (from Allahabad), Manish Rai (from Azamgarh), Alok Singh (from Sultanpur) and Abhishek Singh (from Gorakhpur). They were actually spotted by Rajiv and being a room partner i got to interact with them. This friendship worked as chain reaction. There were so many people who suddenly got written into my good book and eventually i into them. My prime focus was on increasing marks. So i talked to lalit for tuition. Lalit had joined tuition classes last year and offered me for the same. I talked to rajiv and he agreed. We reached to Mr. Deepak Dubey (Research Associate under a renowned Professor of Physics). He was residing 1 km away from our hostel. Earlier he was in Hindu Hostel but later he shifted to that lodge. We were impressed with him. He also suggested us teacher for Chemistry on our request. We joined Rajiv Mishra for Chemistry. He was an inmate of P C Banarjee hostel. Rajiv also could not score well. So we had long way full of difficulties. I and rajiv had decide to keep these classes secret. Now we used to attend only Maths classes and that too of selected teachers. Hence we had jam-packed all the three subjects. This step was hard but it’s tougher to maintain overall 60 % when you score so badly in first year.

Whole year was full of events. There were many ego problems among us for many times. Up to December we enjoyed a lot. Sometimes Manish and pandey used to come to our hostel and we all together made food for thought for all for work and for sleep as well. Similarly we hostellers used to do. I had to make balance in the relationships between me – Rajiv and me – Lalit. Sometimes i used to go to Prayag with Alok Singh. Bhaiya and Rajiv accompanied us a few times. Rajiv lured me a lot of times for free movie. But i had decided, so i controlled my emotions. Finally we started playing under pressure from January onwards. That was the time when electricity starts playing and teasing us for our rest of the year relaxation. This time we got better schedule for examination. There was some movement run by Student Union behind this comfort. In holi this time again i and rajiv rocked and shocked. We went to Rajiv’s friend’s room with some fruits, Parle – G and necessary items to spend a night. That night was supposed to be full of study but.... Next couple of days we strived for food. Finally we decided to cook it ourselves. It was Rajiv who called his mom to ask how to prepare Daal. We made rice and tadka was on the heater. Against my instructions, rajiv poured daal earlier than the desired time. This made daal really horrible. Somehow we managed those days. Exams were academic tests for most of us but once you are far from your house you are compelled to learn a lot of things. After the exams were over, a satisfactory smile was crossing the faces of all friends of that group.

Abhishek: So dhruva, finally where do you zero in?

Me: Sangeet Cinema, Mumbai Express, Evening show.

Abhishek: Ok.

My room was looking at me while i was planning for movies and all. It must have been thinking of human attitude. I was somewhat confident of my marks in the examination. And now i wanted to enlarge my screen view through regular visits to cinema hall. I watched around 10 movies in those vacations. Khaki, Kya cool hain hum, My wife’s murder, mashooqa etc. Finally we all set ourselves to hang out at home with different delicious cuisines and lot of care and love.

Exams ... via ... Holi

“Arey, come down..........Rajiv.....Dhruv......”, seniors called from the lawn.

Rajiv: Come bhaiya, come on Dhruv.

Me: Ya, coming.

Some of the seniors were engaged in handling Live and Mobile Orchestra issue and some of them were trying to grab the sweet as much as possible without being noticed. This was ‘Holi Milan Samaroh’. We, i and rajiv decided to go with all other inmates.

Rajiv: Sir, does it contain Bhaang?

Senior: No dear, not much.

Me: Abe, throw it. We have to write papers as well.

We started our journey at about 5:30 pm and visited KPUC hostel. It was a halt, just halt. Lalit and rajiv were companying me. There we met with all our batch mates and then moved to WH (Women’s Hostel). Each and every senior was super – excited, as if they were going to get some chance to play holi with inmates of WH. In the way only some of the seniors jumped on girls going in rickshaws and threw gulal inside the cars, but thanks to one senior who threatened them to stop all that nonsense. Every senior was showing their mobile and in response they were getting flashes too. But after some time they were shown chappals from terrace. One senior was kept standing on the traffic platform and he had to dance continuously. One was robbed off clothes showing his white frenchie to all Darshnabhilashi. I got little jerk from inside and felt the smoothness of bhang. Suddenly I started speaking English. One of our hostel batch mates, Rajiv Mishra (M.Sc. Physics), got a small glimpse of that audio. I was flying in the sky wondering what to do. This was supposed to be the longest stoppage and we proved it. Somehow the crowd moved ahead leaving some persistent students. We reached back to DJ via Tarachand, PC Banarjee, Hollande Hall, GN Jha, AN Jha and Sir Sunder Lal. Before entering DJH one senior exclaimed that we had forgotten on non-university hostel mend for girls. That hostel was on the road going away in front of DJH and it was owned by a policeman. As soon as we turned to the gully to greet girls, one senior inspector warned us. Every senior was back on the road again, but some of them started calling bad names for policemen. This worked as petrol on the sleeping fire. Everyone was running including me, rajiv and lalit. I was still under the bhang stroke running smoothly. As somebody crossed me i thought i am the last one in the queue, so i started running zigzag. This was an intelligent step because i was doing so to avoid bullets from agitated policemen.

Me: hahahaha.......two days to go to d – day...............and three nights.

Rajiv: Will you please be shut up and have dinner quietly.

Me: yes, why not....................why not.

.................................................................................................................................................................

This was my first exam in the University. I was scared. In my exam hall there was a student (d/o university staff) getting lot of moral and desired support from the research associates guarding us. It was quite discouraging to any other scholar. But i took it positively and started lengthening my body and eyes too; but all in vain. Probably God was planning some pleasant platform for me via thorny ways. I discussed all papers with others and found myself upside down. That year we had five papers on consecutive days. After the exams everyone was planning to leave for home.

Rajiv: Ok then, bbye.

Me: Bbye........Happy holidays.

Lalit: Bbye....take care and enjoy.

Bhaiya: Hope to see you all soon. Bbye.

Hostel – A Unique experience

Diamond Jubilee Hostel (DJH) - 130 rooms (6 triple seated, 4 double seated and rest 120 single seated). An O – shaped hostel. In AU Boys’ Hostels are U – shaped and Girls’ Hostels (commonly known as Women’s Hostel; WH) are O – shaped. Earlier DJ was also for girls. But by that time opposite sex had taken over the rein.
Rajiv: Hey Dhruv, i and you are in the same hostel.
Me: Ya ,,, thats really cool. Whats your room no.?
Rajiv: 66.... and yours is 74.
Me: Hmmm...
I was little scared as it was a scene while getting possession in the hostel. Actually i had once decided to drop the hostel thought and continue in the lodge. But later Rajiv only told me benefits of the hostel. He convinced me and prepared me for teething problems (ragging) of the hotel. Finally i got possession in room no. 66 with Rajiv and one illegal inmate Sandip (He was on behalf of some other guy who did not want hostel). This was a common feature in almost all the hostels of AU.
One more person was there from Science Faculty, Lalit (room no. 130, just a TT hall was there between our rooms). Lalit, Rajiv and i used to be together in all the occasions. There were 5 messes in the hostel leaving no room for inconvenience (that is what we thought initially). For breakfast and super we were dependent on small hutment – teashops just outside the hostel. DJH was on very cream situation. Coming out from front gate you will get ‘Anand Bhavan’ on rhs and KPUC hostel, Art faculty, WH, Tarachand hostel and Prayag Station on left. If you come out from rear gate you will get Hoalland hall hostel standing the other side of the road. One can go to Science Faculty via Holland Hall or by taking left from the rear gate. A tensionless life attracted us a lot and we forgot all past problems, present assignments and future planning.

Entrance...

Papa: Have you kept all the needful stuff with you?
Me: Ya, as far as............... i can recall, i have .....o no !!! where is my watch?
Papa: Wear your watch and go carefully.
..................................................................................................................................................................
This was scene before IIT entrance exam in 2003. Exam centre was Feroze Gandhi Degree College, RaeBareli. I was stunned when papa told me that i may get selected (i had told him that i had attempted ‘only’ 25 out of 84). I appeared in UPSEAT and AIEEE exams also. To have an alternate to engineering i applied for FG College (same IIT centre) and appeared in the Allahabad University entrance.
As usual destiny crushed my dreams and i had to go to Allahabad University. One of my friends (elder to me) in Allapur area gave me shelter. While leaving me in Allahabad on 3rd August, 2003 papa wept a lot and left me weeping more. Next morning i was waiting for tea under the chadar, but.........
First day was quite frustrating with selected excitement. After so many formalities finally classes started. Soon i shifted to Sangam lodge at University Road which was apparently a good step. There i was with my Raebareli high school friend Sudhanshu. Due to my weak follow up, i could not get admission in A. N. Jha Hostel (one of the best hostels of AU). Now i was waiting for the central list of 'candidates – hostel' from AU management.